The phrase “earning a living” has to be one of the most sinister phrases in the English language. We don’t have to justify our right to live; it is a gift we cultivate and learn to use. “Earning a living” implies that you are born into debt. It’s a terrible mindset that makes the idea of monetized labor palatable. You don’t need to earn one because you already have one and it’s yours to enjoy. Make your living instead.
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Sure, if you equate “a living” with “a life”. But they don’t mean the same thing
Okay
You’ll love The Fine Print by The Stupendium.
People generally earn their salary though, and they use that to fund their living. Sure, some may not need to earn their living but they’re generally the outliers.
>It’s a terrible mindset that makes the idea of monetized labor palatable.
Generally it’s the salary that makes it palatable, no?
Then you have a luxury that few throughout history, or even today, have ever had.
So… Start a business?
Earning a living means earning money for bills and stuff it doesn’t refer to a right to life
Earning a living” implies that you are born into debt.
Well, we have been before “debt” was even a thing. We all have to work, weather you’re an HR exec or some man living off his own mountain home witha little farm, he needs to work. You have to earn a living because you’ll die otherwise. We need food, clean water, shelter and that all comes with it’s maintenance.
You want to live? Unless you find someone willing to work for you then you need to work.
Yeah that’s not what the phrase means. Like yours sounds like a nice motivational meme to stick on a coffee cup, but it’s a bit flawed.
‘A living’ means your income, specifically an amount you can live on. It doesn’t mean anything else that you have said
Here’s the thing: nobody but your parents owes you anything. So you have two choices: do absolutely everything yourself, or participate in a give and take with other members of society (we call this an economy). The latter requires earning things from other people, hence earning a living.
You do realize you can just not use this phrase? I bet it doesn’t even exist in other languages, and you don’t have to take it so seriously. You can different words such as earn a salary.
You’re not “born into debt” but you have to consume in order to survive. In order to consume, someone has to produce whatever you’re consuming. You can’t expect others to just produce stuff for you unless you’re willing to help produce the things that they need in return. That’s what the economy is, that’s what earning a living means
It ain’t that deep
You’re more than welcome to not play the game society has collectively agreed to play. Plenty of people opt out. You can find them in shelters, roadsides, brothels, etc. If you want to participate in society, you have to play by the rules. It sucks. It sucks for all of us. Yet, some manage. Some don’t. You pick.